August
2013 Aviation Aerospace Defence Industry Air Force Military News

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Published: Thursday, 29 August 2013 16:44

First
production A400M Airbus Military transport aircraft flies in Turkish Air
force colours

The first production Airbus Military A400M new generation airlifter
for the Turkish Air Force (TAF) has been painted and flown for
the first time in its new markings. The aircraft is the first
of ten ordered by Turkey and will be delivered in the coming weeks.

F-35C
completes first in-flight refuel with United States Air Force KC-135 tanker
aircraft

On Aug. 20, an F-35 Lightning II carrier variant (CV) refueled
from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 for the first time. With the completion
of this test, the F-35C joins the A and B models in proving that
all three variants of the F-35 can be refueled from a common tanker
platform, despite different methods.

Russian
Air Force will procure up to 60 Mi-28UB training variant of Mi-28UB night
attack helicopter

The Russian Defense Ministry will procure up to 60 Mi-28UB helicopters
to improve the training of pilots for Mi-28N gunships, the Air
Force commander said. The Mi-28UB is a combat training variant
of the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter that can be operated
both from the pilot's cockpit and the flight instructor's cockpit
as it is equipped with a dual hydromechanical flight control system.

Two MV-22B Ospreys completed the longest distance Osprey tanking
mission to date in the Pacific region Aug. 2-5, beginning from
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and ending in Townsville, Australia.
The aircrews conducted aerial refueling operations during tanking
missions to extend their flight range, reducing the number of
required landings and shortening the mission timeline.

Russian
Air Force will take delivery this year of first fifth-generation T-50
fighter aircraft

The Russian Air Force will take delivery of its first fifth-generation
T-50 fighter jet "in the third quarter of this year"
for final state test flights starting in the fourth quarter, the
service's commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said, Tuesday, August
6, 2013.

The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing
(STOVL) aircraft completed its 500th vertical landing August 3.
BF-1, the aircraft which completed this achievement, also accomplished
the variant’s first vertical landing in March 2010 at Naval
Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

Iranian experts in Shahid Nasser Habibi air base in Northeastern
Iran managed to overhaul two mirage F-1 fighter jets, the Air
Force announced on Sunday, August 5, 2013. The Dassault Mirage
F1 is a French air fighter and attack aircraft designed and built
by Dassault Aviation as a successor of the Mirage III family.
The first prototype made its maiden flight on 23 December 1966.

French
Air Force officially takes delivery of first A400M new generation of military
transport aircraft

Airbus Military has formally delivered the first A400M new generation
airlifter, which is known in French service as the A400M Atlas,
to the French Air Force, a milestone marking the beginning of
the transformation of military air transport in Europe and beyond.
This delivery, just authorized by the French procurement agency
DGA, enables the aircraft, MSN7, to join tomorrow the French airbase
of Orleans-Bricy where it will be based with the French Air Force.

Eurocopter
delivered the first NH90 NFH Naval Helicopter to the Belgium Armed Forces

Eurocopter delivered the first NH90 NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter)
to the Belgium Armed Forces, providing an advanced, highly capable
and fully-qualified rotary-wing aircraft for this nation’s
multi-role mission requirements. In addition to being the no.
1 NH90 NFH received by Belgium, it also is the first built at
Eurocopter’s Donauwörth, Germany industrial site –
demonstrating this facility’s capability to assemble and
deliver these new-generation twin-engine helicopters.